A consortium led by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates won Egypt’s third mobile licence on Tuesday. According to press reports, the winning bid gives the Egyptian government 16.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.9 billion) in licence fees. Egypt's Communications Minister Tarek Kamel confirmed the size of the bid and told reporters the consortium would pay the government 6 per cent of revenues, compared to 3 per cent minimum which the government had stipulated.
Egypt’s third mobile network will feature both 2G and 3G services.
Mohammad Hassan Omran, Chairman, etisalat, said: “We were very confident that Egypt is a sound investment, and that the process of licensing and deciding will be in favor of the offer that will best serve the Egyptian customer. We would like to thank the Egyptian NTRA and MoICT for the transparency and objectivity in the selection process. We are delighted and honored that the decision was in favor of our consortium.”
“I would like to express our appreciation to our strategic partners in the consortium- Egypt Post, National Bank of Egypt and Commercial International Bank. The partners worked together professionally in achieving this goal”, he added.
